Being able to control your own computer while you're away once seemed like a fantasy, and smartphones made it a reality. But they aren't the perfect remotes. Voice controls are more convenient in some cases, and with the rise of smart speakers such as Amazon's Echo series and Google Home, voice-controlled PCs are a more realistic proposition than ever before. We're not quite there yet, but software developer Rob Latour's Push2Run, which uses IFTTT and Pushbullet to let you control a Windows machine with a Google Home speaker, is perhaps the best attempt yet.

It isn't the first integration between Google Home and Windows we've seen -- the AutoVoice extension for Google Chrome allowed you to use the Google Assistant on your PC. But Push2Run is a lot more customizable, letting you control individual actions you've created during the setup process. For instance, you can shout commands such as, "Do a quick backup", "Perform a quick backup", "Quick backup", "Run a quick backup", at your Google Home speaker to get Windows to begin a backup. And you can assign actions like launching a program or game, opening a file, restarting the computer, shutting down the computer and more to other voice commands.

Push2Run is available for free, though Mr. Latour accepts PayPal donations on his website. The setup process involves gathering up a Google Home device and a Windows PC and signing up for Pushbullet and IFTTT accounts, then downloading the Pushbullet app for Windows and the aforementioned Push2Run client. That might sound complicated, but everything you need is laid out in a step-by-step guide you can find here.

A program that lets you set tasks that can be executed on your computer with voice commands has virtually limitless opportunities, and it's exciting to see it fully realized in Push2Run. We can't wait to see what Mr. Latour has in store.


Source: Push2Run